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The Holiday Weight Challenge

Trying to keep our weight under control is challenging at the best of times. We’re inundated with advertisements and cooking shows and increasingly our social interaction centres on food. It used to be that we’d go out for dinner or have a dinner party maybe once or twice a week, these days it’s breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner too with a café late or 3 thrown in for good measure. At the same time we’re more sedentary with even housework requiring less physical effort as appliances and products become more sophisticated. In the 21st century balancing our calorie intake verses our energy output requires conscious effort. The holiday season compounds this challenge with even more rich food and calorie laden drinks being offered at every turn.As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts if you feel you’ve been losing the battle against weight gain and you want that to change it’s important to find a strategy that works for you. In this blog I’m giving my personal opinon on 5:2 intermittent fasting as a possible antidote to holiday excess.

​​What is the 5:2 intermittent fasting?

It has a few variations but my personal preference is for the one which suggests you follow your standard eating pattern for 5 days and pick two days a week to reduce your calorie intake to 500 calories. Some followers of this regime don’t eat anything at all on the 2 days, but personally I think it’s more realistic to go down no lower than 500 calories because from my own experience if I don’t eat anything at all I feel hunger to the point that I can think of little else and find it difficult to concentrate, I also feel as though my blood sugars plummet which negatively impacts my mood and energy. I think given that we all most likely need to function, drive safely, interact patiently and respectfully, work etc. that having some food intake is safer than not eating at all.What I like about 5:2 intermittent fasting for weight loss

I think it makes sense and you will see results relatively quickly which is often motivating and gratifying.

It’s less of a drain on the will power to reduce calorie intake 1 day at a time. Will power is a resource that has a battery life; this is why so many diets and fitness regimes fail, because after a certain period of time will power will simply run out. The beauty of this system is that you only have to draw on your will power for 24 hours, then the next day when you resume your normal eating habits your will power is charging up again ready for your next fast day.

If you buy your vegetables wisely you can eat enough to stave off hunger and still be within your 500 calorie count.

You don’t live with a sense of deprivation because you know that for over 70% of the time you’re eating normally and 30% of the time you’re only a few hours away from getting back to normal.

You can vary things on your 5 days so that you don’t feel as though you’re in a rut.

What I don’t like about intermittent fasting? Not much that I can think of at this date!

If you are very active I think 500 calories would be very challenging.

Scheduling your fast day to fit in with life commitments may become challenging however this would apply to most diets.

If you find that you’re self-sabotaging by overcompensating on the off days I’d suggest seek help via Hypnotherapy to discover why this mindset is occurring and /or consider that this isn’t the right approach for you but know that there is one that is and you’ll find it soon!

I can’t really think of any other negatives about it at this point.There’s some great information available about recipes and options for the low calorie days, check some of them out here. To be successful you need to be realistic and ensure that on the 5 days while you’re eating normally, the emphasis is on making healthier choices your new normal. There are ways you can introduce healthier options, using zucchini and carrot threads to replace spaghetti in pasta dishes, using lettuce cups instead of taco shells etc. replacing sweetened soft drinks and juices with sparking water and ditching the milky coffee in favour of something like a long black with maybe a dash of milk. Alcoholic drinks can be halved with soda water or make every second drink a water. These changes won’t really deny you too many of lifes’ culinary pleasures but they’ll certainly make a difference to your overall calorie intake and will help create the deficit that has to be achieved if you want to lose weight.With all of my clients the first thing I like to address when they want to lose weight is stress. Stress is a big contributor to weight gain for a lot of people, taking some time out to relax be mindful and stop activity may turn out to be as important as increasing your activity levels at other times during the day. Stress causes the release of Cortisol which can lead to fatigue and hunger particularly cravings for sugar and carbs. If you are highly stressed this can make it hard to stop eating once you start. This is a challenge that we can address in therapy. As always I’m going to suggest you manage and reverse the effects of stress by having a 10 minute daily mindfulness practice.

If you'd like help in losing or managing your weight please feel free to give me a call on 0435 923 817 or use this contact from

If you'd like more information on the Holistic Therapy Weight Loss Programs that I offier please see the pages at this link.

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Melbourne Hypnotherapist Georgina Mitchell was born in Ireland, moving to Australia in 1989. Georgina Specialises in helping people with Anxiety Disorders and is an active member of the Melbourne Hypnotherapy Community. In Melbourne Hypnosis is being accepted as effective tool for anyone wanting to achieve a positive change in Mood, Behaviour and Habit.

Hypnotherapy Melbourne Reviews for Hypfocus

"Georgina has helped me overcome depression and anxiety so that I was able to finish my course and get a job. I've started going to the gym again which I had previously given up because I felt too self-conscious and couldn't stand being hot. It's really changed my life for the better, I can manage my thoughts and don't have the overwhelming feelings that used to see me spiraling downwards anymore. I've tried other therapies and this was my last resort, I can't recommend her highly enough"

Disclaimer: As with all therapies Hypnotherapy results vary from person to person. This website is not intended as a substitute for medical advice or treatment. The reader should consult their GP for medical advice and for any symptoms that may require medical intervention. The content on this website is for the information of people considering Hypnotherapy at Hypfocus.

Hypfocus Practitioner Georgina Mitchell Is A Member of the HCA

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